Handle for cans



(No Model.)

F. W. COLEMAN.

HANDLE FORGANS. -N0.'336,699. Patented Fem-23,. 1886.

Fly Z. 1 7L 63 (I)? INVENTOR fxia ATTORNEYS.

UNITE-D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS \V. COLEMAN, OF RODNEY, MISSISSIPPI.

HANDLE FOR CANS.

E'PECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 336,699, dated'I-ebruary 23, 1886. Application filed December 17, 1885. Serial No. 185,904. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS W. GoLEMAN,

of Rodney, in the county of Jefferson and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Handles for Cans,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming a part thereof, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a can to which my improvement has been applied. Fig. 2is plan View. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the handle. Fig. 5 shows a modified form of handle.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

The object of my invention is to provide for cans employed in canning fruit, meats, vegetables, powders, paints, and other substances a handle which is folded closely against the side of the can while the can, and the material contained therein, is stored, or while it is packed or being shipped, but which may be readily arranged as-a handle while the contents of the can are being removed.

My invention consists in an approximately rectangular frame of wire curved to conform to the shape of the can, and soldered to the can at the middle of its ends, so that while the can is used merely as a package the wire may remain in contact with the surface thereof, occupying but very little room, but when the contents of the can are to be consumed the wire may be bent outward from the can to form a handle.

The can A is of the usual well-known description employed in packing various articles of commerce. It may be either cylindrical, as represented, or elliptical, or square, or of any other of the well-known forms.

The handle which I apply to the can A consists of a wire. B, bent, preferably, into the form of an oblong parallelogram,with rounded corners a, as shown in Fig. 4, the ends of the wire approximating each other in the middle of one of the shorter sides of the frame thus formed. The wire frame, if applied to a can having a fiat side, is left plane; but when applied to a cylindrical can it is curved to conform to the cylindrical surface, as represented in the plan view, Fig. 2. The wire frame is secured to the side of the can by the solder b at the middle of the upper and lower ends of the frame, as shown in Fig. 1.

\Vhen the can is employed as a package for containing articles of commerce, the wire remains in contact with the surface; but when it is desired to use the contents of the can the sides 0 c of the wire frame are bent outward, as shown in Fig. 2 in dotted lines and in Fig. 3 in full lines. The sides 0 may be brought int-o actual contact with each other, or they may be separated by a small distance,thereby increasing the width of the handle.

My improvement is particularly applicable to cans employed in packing edible substances, as the can, after serving as a package, may be readily converted in the manner described into a convenient household article.

To give the handle additional strength at the point of its attachment to the can, I bend the iron inward at the middle of the upper and lower sides of the frameforming the handle, as shown in Fig. 5.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improved article of manufacture,

a can having attached to the side thereof a wire frame capable of being bent outward to form a handle, substantially as herein specilied.

2. The combination, with the can A, of the wire frame in the form of a parallelogram with rounded corners secured to the sides of the can by soldering at the middle of the shorter sides of the frame, substantially as herein described.

FRANCIS W. COLEMAN.

Witnesses:

JNo. A. LIMERICK, H. L. WIN'rnRs, Jr. 

